The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1887-03-19

| Another class of philanthropic work is
reached in the case of food and clothing
The test of all true help is this: Does il
help people to help themselves? Does il
! put them on their feet? With respect to
! education, the answer is in the atfirma.
tive; with respect to gifts of food and
clothing 1t is the exception, when it is
not IN the negative. Mr.. Enoch Pratt
might have endowed fifty free soup
houses in the city of Baltimore, instead
OF founding free library, but his gilt
would have been a curse instead OF a
blessing to us for all future time. Plague,
pestilense and famine together could not
work such irreparable harm as fifty free
soup houses. The danger in gifts of food
and clothing is that people will cease to
try to exert themselves and will become
miserable dependents on the bounty OF
others, losing their self-respect and man.
hood. These gifts must then be made
with the most extreme caution, and in
saying this am only giving the result
OF world wide experience. Even in this
rich land of ours it would not be difficult
to increase the number of paupers, de-
pendent on the toll Of other people to
one IN fifty OF the whole population.
his Is very conservative estimate. In
certain localities through unwise admin
lstration of charity, the number of pau
pers has increased until they have mum
bered l i'll 30, / in 25 and even 1 in IS of
the population. Let us try to think
what this means. We speak of the Ger
man army as a great burden resting on
the German people, and so it is; yet
large as it is it includes less than Que in
hundred of the people.
Here in Baltimore there is reason to
believe there are great many pet pau
pers connected with our churches and
charitable institutions. | believe every
clergyman in the city who has given
thought to the subject will bear me out
in this statement. They hang on year
after year and receive support from we'll
disposed but too often thoughtless PEG
pie. The office of relief of pauperism is,
hrst, temporary satisfaction of material
wants, but second, and chiefly, cure of
that contagious and disgusting malady.
A pet pauper is monstrosity. If the
same person bess food and clothing year
after year, it is a sign that those who
minister to him fail i'll their duty. There
is always temptation, to which even
the most lovable of the fair sex some
times yield, ito pose as Lady BountifuP'
among humble dependents. This should
always be resisted. The sooner charity
puts people on their feet and Sci as them
away, the truer the charity and the more
successful its work. The workingmen
of Baltimore are trying to start CO -oper-
atives shirt factory for the sewing women
of our city. / believe thoughtful clergy
men will admit that this is nobler form
of charity than the establishment of ten
mothers meetings of type too common;
yet false ideas are so prevalent that many
person would feel more moved by an
appeal to buy coal for gratutous distri
button among the poor than by an appeal
to buy five dollars worth of stock in this
cooperative enterprise, and thus help
these poor women to help themselves-to
becomes SO independent that they would
need no further assistance
There il SO much which philanthropy
can do to benefit our race that it is a sin
to waste money either in doubtful forms
of charity or i'll luxury. In accordance
with what has been said, few general
principles can De laid down:
l. 10 help the masses ono should i'm
prove their surroundings; should assist
them to develop their higher faculties,
and should open to them all the advan-
tages of civilization in proportion to their
capacity for enjoyment. One should not
try to improve their lot by aiding as
many as possible to escape from the con-
ditions under which the masses live.
These conditions themselves are to be
ameliorated
,. All help should Include effort on the
part of those aided. The sooner charity
becomes needless, aud self-help sufficient
in each case, the more successful the
charity.
). Philanthropy, like religion, wants
first of all the gilt of the heart and soul
of those who would do good to Others
Unless you give yourself, you cannot help
others. To scatter money carelessly, to
throw dimes to beggars, will prove a
curse to society and can scarcely be ex
pected to bear rich harvest of treasures
in Heaven. Individual treatment and
personal contact are needed.
4. OF all charitable and philanthropic
effort, that which aims to prevent misery
and degradation is most successful "An
ounce of prevention is worth pound OF
cure" Children are the ones on whom
well-disposed persons and reformers
should concentrate their efforts. Oliver
Wendell Holmes said philanthrophy
should begin three hundred years before
a man was born, but heredity is beyond
the control of society. Environment is
not, however, and in the case of the young
that is quite as Important. Among the
things which children need in city like
Baltimore are more breathing spaces
playground in the heart of the city. San
i.ary improvements are good preventive
measures for both old and young. I'M
proved dwellings and strict tenement
house laws also aid in giving strong
bodies to the race. Postal savings banks
and possibly some day municipal savings
banks, like those which are doing SO
good a work in Germany, would have a
high value as preventives of pauperism
and promoters of well-being could they
be established. Some employers is max
ing gilt to employees at Christmas time
or New Years give them handbook
with sum to their credit. This is the
best kind of a present, as it starts men
on a road which is lard travelling at first.
The highest practicable wages are, of
course. desirable, and those who pay their
employees good wages are more truly
philanthropists than those who cut wages
and give largely to chapels for the poor.
Cooperation, whenever it has a chance
of success, Is hopeful and deserves en-
enlargement, as do all honest measures